Southern California based Trinity Paintball manufactures a variety of accessories for various paintguns.

Part of this produce line is the Fake Silencer. This product is available in two versions. The first is a sleeve that fits over a barrel, providing the general look and shape of a firearm supressor (but none of the suppression as it has large vents in its body) and the other, with the addition of four accessory rails actually mounts at the back of the barrel. This second version is formed much more like a military RIS (Rail Integration System) barrel shroud.

The Fake Silencer with Weavers consists of an anodized aluminum cylinder eight inches in length, with a pair of aluminum end caps. The end caps are locked into place with hex-head screws. On one end cap, an interior o-ring allows the rail to rest – loosely – around barrels with an outer diameter of 1-inch or less. The other end cap, features three set screws. These screws allow it to clamp solidly onto a barrel, much like a Christmas tree stand. Even adjustment of the screws allows the end cap, and thus the whole assembly to be firmly secured with the barrel centered.

In addition to its four rows of cosmetic vents, the Fake Silencer with Weavers is ringed by four 6-1/8” long Picatinny 1913 compatible sight and accessory rails. The Picatinny standard uses the same exterior dimension as the Weaver, but also includes lateral slots cut through the rail, which allow for quick-lock accessory mounts.

The four rails not only give the paintgun a more milsim/scenario look, but are quite functional, allowing for items such as bipods, vertical foregrips, side mounted dot-sights, or tactical flashlights to be mounted parallel to the barrel.

For review the Fake Silencer with Weavers was mounted on a Tippmann A-5 with LAPCO big-shot barrel.

Installation started by removing the rear end cap from the Fake Silencer. Included with the product are a pair of hex wrenches in the two sizes needed for assembly. The body of the Fake Silencer was slid onto the barrel from the rear (the o-ringed end-cap did not fit over the barrel's wide muzzle.) The end-cap was then positioned and locked down with its three screws.

It was quickly discovered that the position of the end-cap is important in more ways than one. First, it has a single screw to attach to the Fake Silencer body. If this screw is not aligned at the proper position, the accessory rails will not line up properly with the paintgun (i.e. Top, bottom, left and right.) While a player might want to place them at odd angles, that is possible, but a square alignment maintains a milsim look. This means that the Fake Silencer must be installed while the barrel is on the marker.

The second factor with aligning the rear end-cap came with making sure all three screws were extended evenly and that the cap itself was square to the barrel. The slightest angle when it was locked down prevented the empty screw hole from lining up the screw hole in the Fake Silencer body. These parts are machined to fairly tight tolerances. On the third attempt, a proper and secure fit was achieved, and the body was secured to the rear end-cap with its screw.

In testing it was found, as one would expect, that the three lock screws on the rear cap scratched through the barrel's anodizing. If planning to keep the Fake Silencer in place, this is a non-issue, as the marred section of barrel is hidden away inside, and the scratches created have no affect on barrel performance. For players planning only temporary use of the Fake Silencer, a layer or two of cloth medical tape wrapped around the barrel at the attachment point may offer some protection.

Removing the stock A-5 vertical foregrip, and installing a Picatinny mount vertical foregrip on the Fake Silencer gave the A-5 a balanced and maneuverable feel when configured for use with a remote and folding stock. The more forward placement of the forgrip was in a more comfortable proportion to the marker with its long barrel. The side rails left numerous options open for tactical accessories.